Capshaw's dome looks fine

What a fiery brew we have cooking up over the amphitheater on the Downtown Mall! [July 15: "Amphitheatrical: Architects pummel Mall design"]

You know, my grandfather always said that Lindbergh could have never flown the Atlantic relying on a committee. This, of course, has been used by my father time and time again when he has not gotten his way or has had to go through a lot of bureaucratic red tape.

I saw the plan/rendering in the Hook and I thought,"Well, not real creative and definitely not real pretty. But, hey, who am I or anyone else to say what is beautiful? Have you seen my hair lately?

You can't buy taste, and you certainly cannot buy character. "Each to his own," said the Lady when she kissed the cow. But I regress.

Why not make this thing a competition? You put a nice cash prize out there, and let architects from everywhere take a crack at this thing. Their incentive is that they get a sizable chunk of cash and a lot of recognition if their design is chosen.

Maybe the BAR brings it to the five best designs and then we have a city wide vote on line (a la American Idol). Then when people like me go shooting their mouth off about how we don't like the design, you can say "Hey shut your pie-hole, you Segway-ridin' crime-fightin little freak– the Consensus Rules!"

In sum, all of this talk is good, and it is part of the process. This amphitheater is a good idea, and we just have to carefully revise, distill, and work to build something together as a community that we can all be proud of.

John CardenCharlottesville

[The author was the subject of a recent Hook story that detailed his successful pursuit, on a Segway personal vehicle, of a crime suspect.–editor]